Knowledge to use

• processes of production, distribution and circulation by organisations, groups and individuals in a global context
• the relationship of recent technological change and media production, distribution and circulation (streaming services, piracy, etc)
• the impact of ‘new’ digital technologies on media regulation, including the role of individual producers.
• the significance of patterns of ownership and control, including conglomerate ownership, vertical integration and diversification
• the significance of economic factors, including commercial and not-for-profit public funding, to media industries and their products
• how media organisations maintain, varieties of audiences nationally and globally
• the interrelationship between media technologies and patterns of consumption and response

• How media producers target, attract, reach, address and potentially construct audiences
• How media industries target audiences through the content and appeal of media products and through the ways in which they are marketed, distributed and circulated: widely distributed on video hosting sites aimed at a youth audience but also consumed by the audience for political documentary.
• How audiences interpret the media, including how they may interpret the same media in different ways (Hall Theory of Preferred Reading)
• Cultivation Theory
• Uses and Gratifications Theory

• how your knowledge of the institutional details of the text ie specifics facts, figures, names, dates etc about the text. At this point show your knowledge of the music industry and use key terms (see above)
• Next, show how audiences may (theoretically) interpret media texts ie audience theory.
• Follow this up with specific ideas that suggest how certain audiences may interpret this particular text (ie apply the theory to this CSP)
• Finally, make some summative conclusions based on your knowledge and understanding that show the importance of culture in terms of engaging with issues of power and control. For this you could reference Gramsci & his concept of ‘hegemony’ and/or Habermas and his concept of ‘the public sphere’

Facts:

Common works under Def Jam, which is owned by Universal Music Group, which is owned by Vivendi (french conglomerate). Vivendi also owns Vevo.

letter to the free released 2016 for the documentary 13th. it got the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Song – Contemporary

hall’s theory of preferred reading with examples

hegemony and the public sphere

Statement of intent

I’ve made a front cover, a contents page as well as a double page spread using PC Gamer as inspiration. I similarly wanted my magazine to appeal to young adult gamers. I used darker and sleek imagery on the magazine to appeal to a more mature audience as well as a sleeker house style (red, black, grey white). This colour scheme is also an indicator to the reader that this is in fact a gaming magazine – using black, white, and a bright colour of choice. I chose red accents as the colour this also draws in the eyes and is bold and noticeable. I clearly listed the price on the cover, allowing it to be easily read with black font against a yellow plug. I have allowed the reader’s attention to be caught easily. an example of this is the large stylized game title – BIOLIGHT. The bright green contrasts the black, making it stand out. Furthermore, this advertises a guide for the game, meaning that the magazine capitalizes from the flaws of gamers. This allows more copies to be sold as the reader wants to find out how to improve their skills. This means that one of the social needs, Knowledge about the World, is sated by buying this magazine. I used original images, and edited them to look like game screenshots

Another factor I used for the cover is an image of myself, used to represent the protagonist of the fictional game ‘Biolight’. This may fill the first personal need – as I myself am nonbinary and present uniquely to the norm. This can leave a sense of belonging to many others who feel unrepresented in media. Furthermore, this uses outrage marketing, a marketing tactic used to advertise a minority or behaviour in media, in order to cause outrage on social media. This allows the information or product advertised to spread through word to mouth. In this case, The position of a minority being displayed on the front cover on full view displays this.

This radical idea can be taken through many ways by the audience – using reception theory, the dominant response could be to accept this representation. This audience is likely going to be the ones seeking representation. the negotiated response is mixed. The oppositional response would be a complete dislike of this representation, which could be from anyone, but is most likely to come from those with traditional beliefs.

title length 20.2cm

title width 6.3cm

subhead length 7.4cm

subhead width 1.6cm

goals

3 more images on title page

• common does hip hop
• former studio name called Common Sense
• 47 years old
• he grew up in chicago
• his real name is Lonnie Corant Jaman Shuka Rashid Lynn

music video cool facts 🙂 (style, genre, narrative, characters, theme, message, ideology etc)

• its in black and white
• rap?
• a group of black people are playing music in a prison, behind bars
• the group of people
• racism and unjust imprisonment based on racism
• awareness of racism in the modern day. Common states in the music video that racism still occurs today

disney – owns fox 2000, 21st century fox

follow PEE

reviews for evidence – eg 93% on rotten tomatoes

evidence for outrage marketing, like a quote

Notes:

Indicative content:

The content below is not prescriptive and all valid points should be credited. It is not expected that responses will include all of the points listed. Responses are expected to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how low to medium budget films appeal to Hollywood conglomerates.

General points

• This is a question about the industrial contexts of media production and patterns of ownership and control in the contemporary context.
• The question requires not the analysis of the Close Study Product but rather a commentary on what it reveals about the current state of media production, distribution and circulation.
• The question invites students to explore the subtleties of media production, distribution and circulation and its contexts wherein success is measured in terms other than ‘profit (prestige, credibility, social conscience, balance, diversification).

Hidden Figures

• Hidden Figures is a co-production between independent production companies and a major Hollywood conglomerate through its film subdivision Fox 2000.
• Fox as a conglomerate with diverse cross-media elements including facilities for media production, distribution and circulation means they have the structures and the means to get films with an independent ‘feel’/consciousness/aesthetic to a mainstream audience.
• The wider strategy of media conglomerates is to facilitate their control of the markets around the world, this includes low budget and low to medium budget fare, like Hidden Figures, films perhaps more likely to garner awards and attract prestige.
• With a budget of $25m Hidden Figures is a low to medium budget Hollywood film, an industry category which has recently been recognised for its profit potential.
• Distribution techniques – focus on traditional distribution and exhibition linked to targeted audience.
• The concept of “risk-taking” in terms of subject matter which might not be tackled by big budget productions set against specific targeting of budget and audience.
• Focus on social and cultural ‘capital’ as well as commercial return: marketing predicated on the ‘untold story’ of black female mathematicians.
• Strong links to contemporary concerns and debates about race in the US.
• The film is also targeted at an audience often ignored by Hollywood due to age, gender and race and thus can be explored in terms of the social and cultural context in which it was produced. Also the film tests out the viability of this audience as cinema-goers.

Plan:

Explain the appeal of low to medium budget films to Hollywood conglomerates. Use Hidden Figures to support your answer.

• it made $236 million with a budget of $25 million (almost 10 times the budget)
• talk about outrage marketing (through representation) in order to boost profit
• Hidden Figures is a co-production between independent production companies and a major Hollywood conglomerate through its film subdivision Fox 2000.
• talk about fox as a conglomerate with diverse cross media elements including distribution facilities
• prestige and awards from medium to low budget films as products are more likely to be distributed worldwide (not too expensive)
• it could have been used as a test for outrage marketing especially as it was produced and distributed in the us which has ongoing issues about race